Monthly Archives: September 2009

WSJ: James Grant: From Bear to Bull James Grant is a well-respected writer with a traditional bearish stance. But he's bullish now. Extremely well-written, provocative analysis. He's good. Americans are blessedly out of practice at bearing up under … Continue reading →

WSJ: As Riches Fade, So Does Finance's Allure Harvard's 2009 graduating class shows the shift in career directions. Those entering finance and consulting tumbled to 20% of graduates this year from nearly twice that in 2008 and 47% the year … Continue reading →

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WSJ: Lehman Legacy Alters Global Markets The legacy of the crisis may turn out to be rules that address longstanding controversies with short selling and attempt to prevent selling frenzies like those that occurred last fall. Still, critics of short … Continue reading →

WSJ: New Kids on the Prime-Brokerage Block A stream of new players jumping into the business of servicing hedge funds shows how quickly Wall Street adapts and how rarely it allows an opportunity to make money go unexploited. The big … Continue reading →

WSJ: Asia's Rise and 'Myth' of Decoupling When markets around the world tumbled in unison last fall, the once-popular view that Asian markets and economies could hold up despite the turmoil in the West was quickly forgotten. Now, investors have … Continue reading →

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WSJ: Lehman and the Financial Crisis In effect, these speeches amounted to "The financial system is about to collapse. We can't tell you why. We need $700 billion. We can't tell you what we're going to do with it." That's … Continue reading →

Posted inCredit Crisis|Comments Off on It Wasn’t Lehman; It was Paulson/Bernanke

Planet Money, NPR: Lessons from the Fall – Household Debt Got Us Into This Mess The central lesson we as economists have learned from the crisis is that an unsustainable increase in household debt is one of the most serious … Continue reading →

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WSJ: Samuel Johnson and the Virtue of Capitalism Johnson believed that human happiness could be achieved through great acts of striving rather than in states of placid contentment. "Do not suffer life to stagnate," opines a character in "The History … Continue reading →

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